BiogasWorld Weekly Vol 33

Biomethane as a fuel in Scandinavia: what challenges remain?

December 1, 2017 – In Scandinavia the use of biomethane as a fuel is growing rapidly. In fact 75% of the combustible fuel mix used for transport now consists of biomethane, mainly extracted from sewage sludge, agricultural waste and food refuse. The data is encouraging, but many challenges still remain in consolidating its use as fuel.

EPA finalizes 2018 RFS RVOs, 2019 RVO for biomass-based diesel

December 1, 2017 – The U.S. EPA has released final 2018 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard, setting the RVO for total renewable fuel at 19.29 billion gallons, including 288 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, 2.1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel, and 4.29 billion gallons of advanced biofuel. In addition, the agency has set the 2019 RVO for biomass-based diesel at 2.1 billion gallons. In its proposed rule released in July, the EPA proposed to set the 2018 RVO for cellulosic biofuel at 238 million gallons. In the final rule, the agency has increased the RVO slightly to 288 million gallons. The EPA also slightly increased the RVO for advanced biofuel, from 4.24 billion gallons to 4.29 billion gallons.

UC Riverside evaluates best ways to meet renewable energy targets

December 1, 2017 – What are the best ways to achieve California’s renewable energy targets? That’s the answer Arun Raju, director of the Center for Renewable Natural Gas at UC Riverside, is searching for. Raju recently received a $146,000 grant from Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) to examine the proposed 100 percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and explore options that can help achieve emission reduction goals more efficiently and at lower costs. State officials have approved requirements for the power grid to consist of 50 percent renewable energy by 2030. However, discussions also are underway in Sacramento to further tighten those requirements to 50 percent as early as 2025 and 100 percent by 2045.

All-Gas enters next phase of biogas from algae project

December 4, 2017 – Miguel Arias Cañete, the European Union Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action, has inaugurated the new phase in the All-Gas project in the El Torno treatment plant in Chiclana, Cadiz. Co-financed by the European Commission with the Seventh Framework Programme, the All-Gas Project aims to demonstrate the large scale production of biofuels and biogas based on the cultivation of low cost algae. The All-Gas Project has now started its demonstration phase, successfully exceeding all the objectives and stages set from the start, producing quality biogas that is being tested in various vehicles to check their function.

Engie plans to go green via biogas and renewable hydrogen

December 4, 2017 – French utility Engie plans to switch all of its gas operations to biogas and renewable hydrogen by 2050, making it 100 percent green, its chief executive said on Monday. The power and gas group has some 70 biogas projects worldwide, including 40 in France, and says that if all its projects get approval its annual investment in biogas could soar tenfold to hundreds of millions of euros per year. Engie, which has sold its fossil gas activities as part of a broader restructuring, is also looking to invest in industrial-scale hydrogen production by electrolyze water in places where solar energy is cheap. “We will progressively make our gas greener so that by 2050 it can be 100 percent green,” Chief Executive Isabelle Kocher told reporters on Monday.

American Biogas Council Statement on EPA’s Final 2018 Fuel Targets

December 4, 2017 – WASHINGTON, D.C.– The American Biogas Council (ABC) released the following statement in response to EPA’s final rule on 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard volumes – the Renewable Fuel Standard Program: Standards for 2018 and Biomass-Based Diesel Volume for 2019. “The American Biogas Council is glad to see that in keeping with Administrator Pruitt’s statement earlier this year, the final volumes for 2018 have been released on time and are not as bad as initially proposed, regarding both the actual volumes for biogas and the counting methodology to derive them. However, we remain disappointed about several elements in the final rule.

The acceptance of biogas. How? With biomethane

December 5, 2017 – Winning the involvement of residents and using biomethane can lay the foundations for the acceptance of biogas at the local level. In Italy, Legambiente is striving to inform public opinion on the theme of biogas emissions, and is supporting educational projects to get the message across that properly produced biogas and biomethane really are resources for the community.

World Biogas Association: just 13 years to go to meet the UN 2030 Agenda

December 7, 2017 – The United Nation’s Agenda for Sustainable Development has set goals for 2030. But will 13 years be long enough to implement the necessary changes? The technologies are already available; in some cases awareness, funding and adequate policies are lacking, as David Newman, from the World Biogas Association, explained at UK AD & Biogas 2017.

How a clean-fuel standard will build an industry

December 7, 2017 – If asked what the federal government is doing to cut carbon pollution, most Canadians would likely point to the policy they’ve heard the most about: carbon pricing. But there’s another tool in the pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change that will cut far more carbon pollution than federal carbon pricing, and you probably haven’t heard of it. It’s called the clean-fuel standard and, while still in the design phase, it aims to cut 30 million tonnes of CO2 a year by 2030. That’s equal to taking more than seven million cars off the road, making it the biggest carbon-pollution-cutting policy the federal government has planned.